Stick with the plan

I don't like plans. That may surprise some of my friends who think I'm the Chief Planner. I will step into the void and plan something if no one else will, but all in all, I prefer spontaneity. Why plan a weekend activity when you can wake up Saturday morning and decide?

Following Gracie's second surgery I devised a plan: Confinement to her garage apartment and outside only to go potty. My resolve was firm. After all, it was the break in this original plan three weeks post surgery #1, that she got away from me in the house, slipped on the wood floor and dislocated her patella - all leading to surgery #2.

I have to keep reminding myself that this confinement is for her own good and that her recovery will go more quickly. But despite all my best efforts to stay connect with her, I still miss her in the house.

My resolve broke Saturday. I snuck her in the house - against the harsh inner voice warning me against this. I made her go immediate to her crate though. There she laid while I putz around the house doing Saturday chores. After a couple of hours, we made the slow walk through the backyard (stopping for a potty break), along the side of the house and back to the garage. This route allows us to avoid the stairs. Nothing bad happened, but again, that inner voice reminded me that it could have.

Gracie and I had a talk this morning. I told her we need to stick to the plan. I told her I knew how hard it was to do this, but we must. She simply seem to shrug her shoulders and curl back on her bed. She is OK with the plan. It's me who's struggling.